(Hawaii)– The dangers of the parasitic disease, toxoplasmosis, and its threat to both people and Hawai‘i’s native species will be the topic of an open forum on Saturday, March 31, from 9 a.m. to noon at the UH William S. Richardson School of Law.

Featured will be a panel of eight experts from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, John A. Burns School of Medicine, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Auburn University.

The forum will highlight what is known about the disease caused by the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, and its adverse effects on both wildlife and human beings. A reportable disease in the state, it usually causes asymptomatic or mild infections in those with normal immune systems but may cause greater harm when immune systems have been compromised.

While less is known about its impact in the wild, the disease has been blamed, in part, for the extinction of Hawai‘i’s only native crow. It has also killed other endangered native species such as Hawai‘i’s state bird, the nene goose, and the state mammal, the monk seal.

The forum is jointly sponsored by the law school’s Environmental Law Program (ELP), state Office of Environmental Quality Control and state Environmental Council.